A Review: Molecular Mechanism of Regulation of ABCA1 Expression

ATP-binding cassette subfamily A member 1 (ABCA1) protein plays an essential role in a variety of events, such as cholesterol and phospholipid efflux, nascent high-density lipoprotein (HDL) biosynthesis, phospholipid translocation. Thus, there has been much research activity aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms of regulating ABCA1 expression. In this review, we first discuss ABCA1 structure, tissue distribution, cellular localization, and trafficking, as well as its function. Furthermore, current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of ABCA1 expression is summarized. ABCA1 transcriptional regulation is mediated by a very complicated system, including nuclear receptor systems, factors binding to other sites in the ABCA1 promoter, cytokines, hormones, growth factors, lipid metabolites, enzymes, and other messengers/factors/pathways. In addition, ABCA1 post-transcriptional regulation is mediated by microRNA, long noncoding RNA, RNA-binding proteins, proteases, fatty acids, PDZ proteins, signaling proteins, and other factors. Compared to the transcriptional regulation of ABCA1, which is well established, the post-transcriptional regulation of ABCA1 expression is poorly understood.